I Need a Break
by halfbakedsourdough
Summary: Meredith and Derek wrap Christmas presents after a long crappy day of shopping. Basically, just MerDer Christmas fluffiness.


_This is a one-shot I had written for another site as part of a challenge. Thought I'd post it over here and spread some MerDer Christmas love. Merry Christmas!_

**I Need a Break**

Meredith flopped herself down backward on her bed and groaned. "Today was stupid. Really stupid. I think that it could quite possibly go down as the single stupidest day of my entire life," she grumbled as she placed her arm across her face to drown out the light.

Derek walked in the room and dropped the mountain of bags he was carrying onto the floor. "Thanks for the help, Mer," he said sarcastically. He walked over to the bed and flopped himself down on his stomach next to Meredith. He grabbed his pillow from the headboard and tucked it under his chin. "It wasn't that bad, was it?" he asked sheepishly as he inched his body next to Meredith. He wrapped his arm around her stomach and nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck.

Meredith pulled her face slightly away from his and scrunched up her eyebrows. "Seriously, Derek? You thought today wasn't bad?"

Derek grinned as he studied her angry expression. "I thought it was fun," he said as he shrugged his shoulders. He leaned forward and pressed his lips softly onto hers.

Meredith smiled slightly through the kiss and then pulled away again and forced a scowl upon her face. "You have a seriously distorted view of a good time if you thought today was fun, Derek," she said flatly before returning her arm to her face.

Derek laughed and pressed a trail of warm kisses against Meredith's neck as he spoke. "Yes."_ kiss_ "Today." _kiss_ "Was." _kiss_ "Fun." _kiss_

He placed his soft lips onto hers and kissed her tenderly. Meredith removed her arm from her eyes and wrapped it behind Derek's hair, tangling her fingers into his dark curls. She pulled his hair gently, but hard enough to remove his face from hers. She stuck her bottom lip out and pouted.

"Derek," she said through her pout, "today was one of the stupidest days of my entire life. I actually think I regret getting out of bed this morning." She released his hair from her grip, and turned her body over to lay on her stomach. She pulled her pillow on top of her head and groaned dramatically.

Derek grinned and replied, "Sweetheart, you're only saying that because of what happened in Macy's. And I've already told you, nobody saw you fall." He ran his hand up her back and scooted his body closer to hers.

Meredith pulled the pillow off of her head and glared at Derek as she lifted her face off of the bed. "Derek, I fell when I got off the escalator. In front of hundreds of people. Hundreds, Derek. They all saw it happen. There was laughing. And pointing. Plus that little kid called me 'Twinkle Toes.' It was humiliating," Meredith huffed and pouted again as she finished her ramble.

Derek smiled widely and teased, "But other than that, it was fun, right?"

Meredith turned her body over and sat up as she narrowed her eyes at Derek. "Um, let's see. First, there was the whole falling-off-the-escalator thing. Then there was the spilling-my-ice-water-all-over-my-pants thing at lunch. And…Oh! Don't forget about the getting-flipped-off-by-the-old-lady-in-the-Barbie-doll-aisle thing. That was great. Actually, now that I look at the bigger picture, today was fantastic, Derek. Thanks for making me go Christmas shopping with you. I had a super time." She folded her arms in front of her chest and forced a fake grin onto her lips.

Derek frowned his eyebrows together. "You're mocking me, aren't you?"

Meredith rolled her eyes and replied flatly, "No. Today was super."

Derek raised his eyebrows and said, "Really?"

Meredith giggled and replied, "No. It sucked, Derek."

Derek laughed as he sat up on his knees in front of her. He placed his hands on the backs of her legs and pulled her body into his. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist as his arms hugged around her back. Meredith's hands found their way into the back of Derek's hair and she pulled his face into hers for a firm kiss.

"Thanks for going shopping with me," Derek said quietly as they broke off the kiss and pressed their foreheads together.

Meredith smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. "Whatever. You owe me, Brain Man," she teased before kissing him again.

Derek grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Hmm…I can think of a few ways to repay you," he said seductively as he pulled at the hem of her shirt and ran his hands over her bare stomach.

Meredith nodded her head and smiled. "Me, too. I need a foot rub, Derek. My feet are sore from all that walking today, baby." She scooted herself off of his body and leaned back against the headboard. She stuck out her sock-covered foot in front of his face and ran it against his chest.

Derek groaned and rolled his eyes as he smiled at her. "Fine," he muttered as he grabbed her foot and began massaging the bottom with his thumbs.

Meredith closed her eyes and sighed as she relished the feel of Derek's strong fingers on her aching foot. "God, that feels good, Derek," she said softly as she relaxed further into her pillow. Derek smiled and dropped her foot, quickly grabbing the other one. Meredith moaned softly as he began pressing his thumbs into the arch of her tired foot. "I'm so glad today is over," she muttered.

Derek chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry, Mer. But today is nowhere near being over," he said. Meredith opened her eyes and glared. "What?" she grumbled.

Derek smiled apologetically and looked over at the mound of shopping bags that covered the floor next to the bed. "Meredith, uh…we have to wrap all of this stuff tonight," he said quietly.

Meredith pulled her foot out of his grip and sat herself straight up against the headboard. "Excuse me?" she asked. She scrunched her forehead up and frowned.

Derek laid his chin on top of Meredith's legs and sighed as he looked up at her. "These presents have to be mailed by tomorrow afternoon, otherwise they won't make it to my mom's house by Christmas Eve. We've got to wrap them," he said softly.

Meredith rolled her eyes and muttered, "Crap." She looked over at the bags and sighed. "Derek, you bought like thirty presents. This is going to take all night."

Derek sat up in the bed and nodded his head in agreement. "I know. It's a lot of stuff. But it'll be fun," he said as he wiggled his eyes at Meredith.

She groaned and grabbed a pillow off of the bed next to her and shoved it over her face.

Derek laughed and got off of the bed. "Come on, Mer," he said. He reached over and grabbed the pillow off of her face and tossed it on the foot of the bed.

Meredith brushed her hair off of her face and frowned. She crossed her arms in front of her and bit her lip nervously.

Derek studied her face for a moment, and then asked, "Meredith, what's wrong?"

Meredith shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Ihaveneverwrappedpresentsbefore," she muttered quickly under her breath.

A look of confusion crept over Derek's face. "What?" he asked as he grabbed a bag off of the floor and began unpacking its contents onto the bed.

Meredith groaned and looked up at the ceiling. She let out a long sigh and pouted. "I said, 'I have never wrapped presents before', ok?" she muttered again, this time louder and more dramatically.

Derek smiled widely and said, "Oh. You've never done this before. It's really not hard. I'll show you." He opened another bag and pulled out a several rolls of wrapping paper, a pair of scissors, and some tape. "Pick a present," he instructed as he nodded his head in the direction of the toys on the bed.

Meredith sighed and grumbled "fine" as she leaned forward and picked up a box with this year's Holiday Barbie in it. "Here," she said grouchily as she held the box out toward Derek.

Derek inspected the box and said, "Ah, Holiday Barbie. That's for Megan. Um…let's use this sparkly snowflake paper. She'll like that. Plus, it kind of matches Barbie's dress." He picked up the gift wrap and handed it to Meredith. Meredith snorted and said, "Oh. My. God." She grabbed the paper out of Derek's hand and laughed.

Derek scrunched up his forehead and said, "What?" He stood motionless as he waited for Meredith to stop laughing.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Oh my god, Derek. That was precious," she teased. She tore the plastic off of the gift wrap and handed it back to Derek.

"I still don't know what's so funny," he muttered as he took the paper from her hand and spread it out on the bed. He tossed the Barbie box in the middle of the paper and cut off the necessary amount of wrap.

Meredith grinned and winked at Derek. "You're cute, that's all. I didn't know you were the kind of guy who coordinates gift wrap and Barbie doll dresses," she said through her smile.

Derek laughed and said, "Yeah, well get used to it. My nieces think I'm awesome. You should see what I do with the ribbon and gift tags. I'm pretty good at this." He quickly folded the paper around the box and held his hand out towards Meredith.

Meredith scrunched her nose up and said, "What?"

Derek rolled his eyes playfully and said, "Tape, Meredith." He nodded his head towards the roll of scotch tape next to her leg.

"Right," she said quietly as she tore a small piece off and handed it to Derek. He stuck it onto the package and held his hand out for another piece.

"Two more pieces," he said as he maneuvered the paper expertly around the box. Meredith tore two more pieces off and handed them to him. "Thanks," he said as he winked at her. "There. Perfection," he announced as he held the box out for Meredith to inspect.

Meredith nodded her head in approval. "Wow, Derek. That actually looks good," she said honestly. She took the box from his hands and tossed it onto the floor. "I need a break," she said as she grabbed his hands and pulled him on top of her on the bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his back.

Derek grinned and said, "Meredith, we wrapped one present. And all you did was tear off some tape. I don't think either of us is break-worthy at this point." He smiled down at her as she closed her eyes.

"Whatever, Derek. I need a kiss break. It'll help me work faster," she said as she wrapped her hands behind his neck and pulled his face to hers.

Derek smiled and raised his eyebrows at her. "A kiss break? Never heard of it," he teased against her lips.

Meredith opened her eyes and grinned. "It's real. I swear. I need to get some endorphins going. You know, energy or whatever," she said softly. She pulled his face into hers and kissed him softly.

Derek smiled through the kiss and mumbled, "Yeah, energy." He pressed his lips firmly against hers and kissed her gently. His tongue ran against her bottom lip before latching on softly with his teeth.

Meredith moaned and placed her hands on Derek's cheeks. She pulled his face away from hers and said, "Ok, break's over." She pushed her hands against his chest and forced him to roll off of her.

Derek's mouth hung open slightly as he studied Meredith's face. "For real?" he asked through his bewilderment.

Meredith sat up and looked at him innocently. "What?" she asked as she reached across his body and picked up another box to wrap.

Derek sighed and climbed off of the bed. "Endorphins," he grumbled as he looked down at his crotch.

Meredith giggled and placed her hand over her mouth. "Sorry," she teased. "Let's just get this stuff wrapped before we take anymore breaks."

Derek rolled his eyes and smiled weakly. "Good idea, Sweetheart," he said sarcastically.

Meredith smiled up at Derek as she watched him begin to wrap the next gift.

"What?" he asked as he noticed her watching him.

Meredith grinned and said, "This is fun. I usually hate Christmas, but this…is fun. I mean, except for the whole completely embarrassing shopping day from hell. Doing this with you is fun." She shrugged her shoulders and tore off a piece of tape.

Derek smiled and took the tape off her fingers. "I'm glad, Meredith." He winked at her and leaned down to press a soft kiss onto her lips.

Meredith pulled away and asked, "What are you doing?"

Derek scrunched his forehead up in confusion. "Um, kissing my sexy girlfriend?" he said as he leaned forward for another kiss.

Meredith giggled and pushed his body away from her with both hands. "No way, mister. No more kiss breaks, remember?" she teased as she scooted further onto the bed away from him.

Derek grinned playfully and climbed on top of her. "Hmm…good thing this isn't a kiss break," he whispered against her lips before pressing his mouth onto hers in a soft kiss.

"It isn't?" Meredith asked softly as Derek broke off the kiss. His hands found their way under her shirt and onto her bare stomach.

He shook his head and said, "Nope." He began placing soft wet kisses across her neck and down her chest over her shirt.

Meredith smiled and tangled her fingers into the back of Derek's hair. "So, what exactly are you doing?"

Derek lifted his head off of her chest and grinned sheepishly. "I'm looking for my Christmas present. It's gotta be here someplace," he said as he wiggled his eyebrows at Meredith.

Meredith giggled. "Hmmm…it might be. But no peeking until we finish wrapping all this crap. You don't want to lose your Awesome Uncle title, do you? Get up," she ordered as she pushed him off of her body.

Derek groaned and sat up. "Fine, stupid gift wrapping," he mumbled under his breath as he grabbed the half-wrapped present. He folded the corners of the paper around the box and held out his hand to Meredith.

She tore off a piece of tape and handed it to him. "You know, they do this crazy thing in stores now. It's called gift wrapping. They actually wrap your presents while you wait. I'm thinking next year, we should try it," she teased. She tore off another piece of tape and handed it to him.

Derek smirked. "You're such a smart ass," he said flatly.

Meredith grinned and said, "Yeah, but you love me."

Derek tossed the wrapped present onto the floor and knelt down in front of Meredith. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips gently onto hers. "I do love you. More than anything. And I want to make this Christmas special for you. It's our first Christmas together. It should be special," he said softly against her lips.

Meredith's breath hitched in her throat before she replied, "Hmm…what do you have in mind?" She placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled his face into hers for a soft lingering kiss.

Derek smiled through the kiss and then said as he pulled away, "You get a present a day until Christmas. Starting today." He stood up and walked to the closet. He opened the door and reached inside and pulled out a box wrapped in shimmering red paper. He walked back over to the bed and flopped down onto the bed on his stomach. "Here," he said with a huge smile on his face. Meredith giggled and shook her head. "I don't have anything to give you," she said quietly as she took the present out of Derek's hand.

Derek wiggled his eyebrows and teased, "Oh, you'll give me something later. Don't worry, Sweetheart."

Meredith rolled her eyes playfully and said, "Ah, so this isn't really about making our first Christmas special. This is about sex." She began ripping the paper off the box.

Derek laughed and said, "Sex makes things special. Especially sex with me." He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss onto her lips.

Meredith snorted and laughed. "Oh god, Derek. You're inflating your own ego," she scoffed playfully. She finished unwrapping the present, and her breath hitched in her throat. "Derek, where did you get this?" she asked quietly. She ran her fingers over the framed picture in front of her and smiled softly.

Derek scooted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he pulled her onto his lap. "I found the picture in one of the boxes in the study. I thought you might like to have it out someplace," he said sincerely as he looked down at the picture.

Meredith quickly wiped away a tear from her eye as she used her other hand to trace the glass on top of the picture. "I must have been four or five in this one. And look at my mom. She looks so young, and happy," Meredith whispered.

Derek nodded and ran his hand up her back. "You both look happy," he said. "And the pigtails are adorable."

Meredith smiled sadly and turned to face Derek. "Thank you," she said softly. She leaned her face into his and kissed him gently.

"You're welcome," he replied as they broke off the kiss. "What?" he asked as he studied the sheepish grin that had taken over Meredith's face.

Meredith's smile widened and she winked at Derek. "I think it's break time," she said seductively. She leaned over and set the picture on the nightstand. She turned her body and straddled Derek's lap with her knees. Her hands tangled in the back of his hair as she pulled his face to hers and kissed him softly.

Derek smiled as he pulled away and said, "So, my plan worked?"

"Mmmhmm…" Meredith mumbled before kissing him again. "This is definitely going to be a great Christmas," she said softly as she pressed her forehead to Derek's.

"Merry Christmas, Meredith," Derek whispered as he nuzzled his nose against her cheek.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered back before pressing her lips firmly against his. "Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," she said softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug.

Derek smiled widely and replied, "I love you, too."


End file.
